In any event, rising rates do nothing to encourage the recent program designed to help homeowners refinance their mortgages. HARP, or Home Affordable Refinance Program, allows those in situations where they owe between 80% and 105% of their home's value, to refinance at new lower rates. It was projected that the program could help almost five million homeowners ease their monthly payment.

Apparently, public response to HARP, was much lower than expected and now that rates are on the rise, will probably not get much better. HARP was plagued with administrative issues that led to many applications being denied or never considered, and the program had difficulty gaining needed momentum to achieve its lofty goals. Qualifying loans had to be guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Just under 13,000 refinancings were completed, and over 17,000 still need to be processed. The average savings reduced mortgage rates by 1.3 to 1.5 percentage points. Those who have mortgage insurance, are not eligible according to this version of the program, but future changes are in the works.

HARP was developed in response to the many borrowers who were unable to refinance due to lack of equity in their homes. Many had purchased when prices were high, and when values dropped, were left with mortgages higher than the property's current market value. The rising interest rates will do little to help these homeowners.

Not surprisingly, the numbers for home purchases has remained stationary since the rates started to rise. Even though current rates are lower than last year's, when they sat at about 6.32%, people have found yet another reason not to commit to a long term investment. Jerry Clifford